ADS seeks to empower communities in DRC particularly the Eastern DRC with knowledge and community-based approaches and tools to become active citizens that are capable of making life-changing decisions and actions that contribute to meaningful and sustainable realization of their human rights. This is to be achieved through five strategic intervention areas that are tailored around ADS’s objectives as follows:

Peace and peaceful co-existence

ADS applies context specific approaches that promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. Our main focus in this area include; psychosocial support to victims of conflicts and violence, access to justice to the vulnerable especially women, and reconciliatory actions that covers; community mobilization, engagement and advocacy. We also place emphasis on collaboration with like-minded organizations and institutions in the East African Community and the Great Lakes region of Africa about social cohesion initiatives, inter-state community dialogues, peaceful cohabitation and peace education initiatives. ADS recognizes the place and central role of women in peace and peaceful co-existence initiatives. The role of Women in Peace and Security (WPS) particularly, domestication of UNSCR and the ICGLR-Kampala declaration will be central to ADS programming under this pillar.

Regional integration

We aim at placing citizens at the center of regional integration efforts and contribute to ensuring that regional integration is people-driven through active and effective participation of CSOs and citizens. Under this intervention area, ADS organized and more effective at engaging with regional bodies such as the East African Community, SADC, and AfCFTA. We aim at closing the gap between the citizens of DRC and regional bodies through information sharing, awareness raising and education. We have policy expertise, mobilization skills and local knowledge to lobby, establish and maintain a meaningful presence that can lead to policy input and policy advocacy at the regional integration bodies.

Climate justice and environmental protection

ADS seeks to intervene in strengthening knowledge, actions and advocacy about climate justice and environmental protection in the DRC. ADS has prioritized working with indigenous communities and local riparian communities in the management and conservation of extractive resources, forests and national parks. Interventions are to be designed in line with the prevailing environmental degradation activities taking into consideration the gender perspective. ADS approach includes adopting alternative and innovative socio-economic environmentally friendly strategies and approaches for the protection of extractive resources, forests and national parks taking into account communities’ historical and local contexts. This include promoting access to information on climate justice and providing relevant education about rights, duties and obligations. Our efforts are also dedicated to establishing an effective collaboration and coordination framework for protecting environment defenders who are always subjected to judicial and extra-judicial harassment.

Gender and Development

Women’s equality and empowerment is one of ADS’s priority objectives, but also integral to all other objectives of ADS. ADS’s programming is deliberate at addressing systemic social-cultural structures and practices that inhibit women’s access to equal

rights and opportunities. Under this intervention area, ADS is focusing on a) closing the financial inclusion gap by developing and adapting community-based women economic empowerment models and approaches, providing financial literacy and accompaniment, and designing and implementing activities that demystify gender norms and stereotypes. b) promoting inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for women, men, youth (boys and girls). Our intention is to increase access to SRHR information and services through increased behavior change communication, comprehensive sexuality education and advocacy for the protection and respect for SRHR.

Intergenerational equity

ADS ambition under this intervention area is to ensure that current political and economic incentives are balanced for both present and long-term needs; focusing on transparency and accountability of decision makers about their choices that commit future generations. For instance, we clearly establish the relationship between development goals, governance, debt, corruption and intergenerational conflict and seek to address this crisis by creating platforms where intergenerational dialogue and debate can take place. In the long-term, we believe in creating a critical mass of informed and knowledgeable citizens particularly the youth who can formally and peacefully hold their leaders accountable through meaningful participation.